Microsoft shows off the new Office for Windows Phone

As well as announcing two new smartphones, Microsoft also revealed a new feature coming to Windows 10 for phone. Microsoft Office. The new suite is fully optimized for smaller screens, and will come pre-installed with Outlook on all Windows Phones (just like how things are currently).

Looking at the new Outlook app for Windows 10 on the phone, it's not only a fully integrated app, but Microsoft is taking the app further than just mail, by integrating calendar functionality too. It's possible to not only attach and send photos, but office file attachments too. Then you have the full editing capabilities of Office right in the palm of your hand.

In-line is supported, alongside annotating received messages. Outlook will allow you to customize exactly how you want to use available gestures, but everything is at reach by swiping left and right to see more options.

If you're not a fanatic about email, but do require a feature-rich suite then look no further than the improved Office for Windows 10 on phone.

Excel looks pretty easy to use with touch. We're excited to see what these new productivity tools will offer consumers while they're away from a desktop PC. The best part? It'll be free. Remain tuned for more from Mobile World Congress!

Does the new Calendar still like a ridiculous slice of a PC screen corner, or has it been by now improved to be at least remotely as classy as the current WP8.1 calendar? Yes, I am exaggerating on purpose. But I do think the new Calendar looked like crap in the demos so far..

Hamburger at the top left is too hard to reach. It was first made for the 3.5inch original iPhone and has been here ever since. Phones have evolved since and not it takes two hands to reach it with the size of todays screens. Terrible UX

About time this happened. Now instead of waiting a whole 6+ months for Windows 10, they can do us all a favor by releasing these apps soon. They were already demoed at Build last year so should be fine running on Windows Phone 8.1 unless they are in need of specific Windows 10 APIs.

Most likely, this version of Office requires new APIs that are part of Windows 10 only. If it were possible to do in the current APIs I'm sure that touch Office for Windows would have come out before iOS or Android.

While it's looking good, I don't get why there is a back button in the Outlook app. Yes, it's a universal app, but that doesn't mean that all the buttons from the PC version need to be in the phone version. I also hope the insider feedback will get them to put the buttons back to the bottom where they belong.

I would put in the feedback app that they should put it to the bottom of the screen instead of the top. I'm sure it is an easily correctable issue. With enough feedback from users there's a good 90 percent chance they'll put it to the bottom

I honestly dont really care about the hamburger menu anymore. Obviously its what a lot of people wanted since most of Windows 10 is based on user feedback. I'm not a real big fan of the hamburger menu since it reminds me too much of iOS and Android, but it's usable, and I really can't complain. In a way it is a slightly different style of hamburger menu than the iOS/Android variants. Maybe it was just an easier way for Microsoft to make their apps universal. Plus a lot of devs seem to be in favor of this hamburger menu approach, even since iOS and Android was first released, so it'll make it easier for them to make apps for Windows using a familiar interface. Sometimes I try to look into the reasoning as to why they choose what they do instead of bitching about it. Could it be better? Sure. But for now I think Microsoft's goal is to try and do what they can to get devs on board with Windows since this continues to be one of their major setbacks even if it means having to tweak their UI to something people already use.

Agreed, the hamburger menu is okay, but it could at least be moved towards the bottom of the screen, because a lot of people might not know that you can access that menu by swiping as well, and they'll want to tap the button instead. It would turn into a Charms bar issue all over again.

Well seeing as that it is a universal app across PCs, tablets, and phones I would think it would be updated much more often. If a lot more people use Office on desktops and tablets, they'll be more likely to get the updates, but in turn it will also update office on phones as well.

Just because you complain the loudest doesn't make you right. I personally prefer the hamburger menu over the ellipses. The ellipses are difficult to hit and on a phone with on screen buttons take up even more screen real estate which then pushes all the content on the screen even further up and makes things like using the keyboard rather difficult and hard to get used to.

I have never, in my entire lifetime, missed to press the ellipsis. Even though it looks hard to press, it has a larger touch area than it looks so you can't miss it. And the keyboard-ellipsis combo is far better than the keyboard-hamburger. I am actually annoyed that the most used buttons will be on top just because every android app does it like that, it is much more accessible at the bottom.

I disagree. The ellipses were on the bottom right corner of the screen. Very easy an accessible to the majority of the right handed population, because your thumb is right there. Left handed users didn't lose out either, because you don't have to hit the three dots perfectly, just the app bar running along the bottom will suffice.

This is opposed to the hamburger button: In the top left corner, as far away from a right handed user's thumb as possible, therefore meaning it's also as inaccessible to the majority of consumers as possible. In essence, defeating the accessible by design principles of Metro.